The new F1 cars are looking raceable heading into qualifying

I have not seen anything that worries me yet after the first two Formula 1 free practice sessions of 2026. Adelaide is (along with Qatar) probably the hardest track of the year for energy management as a pretty flat-out place, and we saw earlier this week how the FIA’s track-by-track energy deployment rules are going to work. This is the key element that will make or break the 50/50 split between turbo V6 and hybrid power: Is there enough headroom in the package to fine-tune things for the demands of each race weekend in the rules?

In Melbourne, it looks like teams are settling on a big super-clip (full blast of battery recharge with full throttle while slowing) into turn 9 as the bit of track they have to sacrifice in order to accelerate with full power on the next straight and make it to the other side. It’s the sort of thing purists were worried about, and I’ve seen some complain about how it looks through practice, but as Juan Pablo Montoya reported trackside on the broadcast, the acceleration after that is mighty impressive. I’ll withhold an opinion on whether that’s worth it and say we’ll find out in qualifying.

In general, every team and every driver looks to be where I’d expect them to be at this point with the exception of Aston Martin, which we knew was in trouble before the circus got to Australia, but things seem to really be crumbling now. A blame game has started (Newey is pinning it all on Honda, of course), the engine is shaking the hybrid system to bits, the drivers’ health is at risk from the vibrations, and it looks likely they may retire by choice before much of the race is even complete.

It’s not all Honda’s fault, of course; Aston sounds like they were taken by surprise by the total brain-drain of Honda people who worked on the Red Bull program, even though this is how Honda has always worked. Arguably it’s why Honda’s F1 history is so messy, too, and it’s repeating itself here, and Aston Martin was not ready for it.

Honda sends people to F1 to train and bring that wisdom to other parts of the company. This is also Toyota’s approach to Formula 1, but that’s why their arrangement with Haas is so carefully constrained, and it doesn’t even include the power unit, which is provided to Haas by Ferrari. Haas, meanwhile, is putting in top 10 times in practice. Aston Martin is hardly putting up any times at all, and Lance Stroll’s fastest one so far is on trend to be outside the 107% window to qualify!

The other Ferrari customer team, Cadillac, is having more problems as we get into the real race weekend, and that should surprise no one. I was surprised things were going so well before. But nothing has happened that suggests any sort of doom. I sure would love to see both cars finish the race, though. “We’re not last” is as ambitious a first race as I could ever demand of them.

Ferrari itself is looking great, as expected after testing. Lewis is happy and actively exploring the car and the energy deployment system, and Charles was fastest of all in FP1. Both drivers’ lap times on every team are close — except on cars with issues, like that of Lando Norris — and that’s not surprising; they’re still heavily in testing mode. Mercedes seems to have turned up the wick for FP2, which put at least Piastri’s McLaren into the mix. Verstappen went off and made a bit of a mess of his car, but by and large the Red Bull power unit is humming along. Arvid Lindblad put up a P5 time in his first FP1 session as a Formula 1 driver.

Again, we’ll see how qualifying looks. I have seen enough to believe these cars can race, but qualifying is where energy starvation will make the difference between a field that makes sense and one that does not. Now, that might be fun. But it might be a mess.